Educators and authors discuss ways to get children reading

Monday

Mar 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 30, 2009 at 11:53 PM

As the author of 32 children’s books, a first-grade teacher for 25 years and the father of two sons, Jim Aylesworth knows what it takes to get kids to read. He and several other authors and illustrators of popular literature for children and young adults were among the speakers at the Illinois Reading Council conference earlier this month in downtown Springfield.

Ann Gorman

As the author of 32 children’s books, a first-grade teacher for 25 years and the father of two sons, Jim Aylesworth knows what it takes to get kids to read.

Aylesworth, who wrote “Old Black Fly,” “Aunt Pitty Patty’s Piggy,” “Our Abe Lincoln” and more, is this year’s recipient of the Prairie State Award for Excellence in Writing for Children.

He and several other authors and illustrators of popular literature for children and young adults were among the speakers at the Illinois Reading Council conference earlier this month in downtown Springfield. The conference drew nearly 3,000 teachers from across the state.
Among the topics discussed were ways to engage more children in reading, and to get children to read more often.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress Web site, reading skills in the United States “are improving for both fourth- and eighth-graders, particularly among lower-and middle-performing students.”

“These gender score gaps were not significantly different from the gaps seen 15 years ago,” the report says.

John Coy, author of “Night Driving,” “Strong to the Hoop,” “Box Out” and other books for young people, said at a presentation at the Prairie Capital Convention Center that if a child isn’t reading well by third or fourth grade, “school gets very, very hard.”

Coy noted that some boys feel reading is a girls’ activity, and “not really what boys do.”

Boys, Coy said, also think that “what they like is not valued,” when there is a “hierarchy of good books” — leading to a perception that adults find wrestling magazines, comics, the “Captain Underpants” series, The Guinness World Records books and similar reading materials unacceptable.

Coy encourages educators and parents to “find books that address the genuine interests of boys,” including non-fiction. And he suggests inviting positive male role models, including high-school athletes and fathers, to read to youngsters.

A feast for the eyes

Matt Holm — co-creator with his sister, Jennifer Holm, of the “Babymouse” graphic novel series — grew up reading comics and drawing cartoons. He said “graphic novel” is just “a fancy way of saying comic book.”

Graphic novels “illustrate the literary concepts of dialogue and narration for young readers more explicitly than prose novels do,” Holm said, and they inspire reluctant readers, because reading comic books “doesn’t feel like work to kids.” Graphic novels also are a bridge from picture books to chapter books, he added.

Still, some parents discourage kids from perusing comic books because they don’t consider it “real reading.”

“Whatever happened to reading for pleasure? How many parents read Jane Austen or tote ‘War and Peace’ around with them? They never read ‘People’ magazine at the doctor’s office?” Holm says, laughing.

He pointed out that kids today are growing up in a multi-media world, where literacy is “complicated and broad.”

“It’s not just about being able to read printed words on a page and write a report,” Holm said.

Now, the author and illustrator of “Backbeard: Pirate for Hire,” and “The Truth About Cousin Ernie’s Head,” has introduced math concepts in his books, “The Lion’s Share,” and “Bean Thirteen,” to try to get kids interested in the subject.

“The number system perhaps would have been better if we were born with twelve fingers,” McElligott quipped.

Educators were moved to laughter and tears as they listened to Patricia Polacco, whose long list of tales about her childhood and multi-cultural family includes “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” and “The Keeping Quilt.”

At the conference, Polacco displayed the original “keeping quilt,” which is made from the babushka and dress of Great-Gramma Anna and other family members’ clothes, and is the basis for her classic book.

A precious heirloom, Polacco said the quilt has swaddled generations of babies and may someday bundle her own grandchild, she hopes.

That style led to “Huggly Gets Dressed,” “Hi! Fly Guy” (whose hero literally is bug-eyed), and “Parts,” about a boy with a big imagination who thinks his body is falling apart when he experiences navel lint, a loose tooth and other kind of gross aspects of the human form. “Parts” spawned the sequels “More Parts” and “Even More Parts.”

Learning how other kids live

Denise Whiteman waited in line for Aaron Elster, a child survivor of the Holocaust, to autograph her copy of his book, “I Still Her Haunting Eyes.”

“People need to know about that time and other cultures. I applaud him for being able to talk about it,” Whiteman, a teacher at Ridgely Elementary School in Springfield, said of the horrific conditions Elster endured as a young Jewish boy in Poland in the early 1940s.

Elster said he tells students “you don’t have to let the past define you.”

“You can have a good life. You can overcome,” he said.

Sharon Draper’s books often deal with choices and experiences teens face, and they offer opportunities for discussion. The books also have “powerful” openings to get kids’ attention, she said.

Draper, the 1997 National Teacher of the Year and author of bestsellers such as “Tears of a Tiger,” “Romiette and Julio” and “Copper Sun,” is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Award. She also has been honored at the White House on six occasions.

Her book, “The Battle of Jericho,” explores peer pressure, popularity and hazing and how those things can forever impact a person’s life. Draper said she wrote it at the suggestion of a ninth grader.

Ashley Riggio, an instructor at Noble Street College Prep School in Chicago, said Draper has “tapped into a group of students who felt like a lot of books weren’t written for them.”

“I have had students read every single one of her texts, and they’re dying for her next book to come out. They see themselves as readers because of her work,” Riggio said.

For your eyes (and ears and noses) only

Neal Shusterman strives when writing his young adult novels to engage all the senses of his readers.

“I try to make sure I am describing things in such a way that it’s not just what the characters see, but what they’re feeling specifically, what they’re smelling, tasting and hearing. I find that really helps engulf the reader into the world of the story,” said Shusterman, whose titles include “Everlost,” “Unwind” and “Full Tilt.”

One more thing parents can do

Dressed in a whimsical T-shirt featuring the Dr. Seuss characters, Thing One and Thing Two, teacher Karen Freres of Montmorency Elementary School in Rock Falls offered her secret to turning children into bookworms: “Get excited about reading. If you’re excited, it’s contagious.”

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